


The Things That Matter

by PFDiva



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, and past it probably, i don't really know how to tag this, maybe past season 3?, spoilers i guess, they always blur together for me, up to the end of season 2 at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-26 01:56:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19758238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PFDiva/pseuds/PFDiva
Summary: Jon has never really been nice to Martin, but he is kind, in his own way.





	The Things That Matter

Jonathan Sims is not the least sociable person Martin has ever failed to get along with, but he's close. He is small and dark, and the way Tim talks to Sasha, Martin can only suspect he's wary because Martin is very big and very pale and very redheaded. He doesn't quite get it, but he understands enough to know that, for a definition of safe, Jon is safer with Tim than with Martin. Tim is also bigger than Jon, but he's a different shade of dark-skinned that means he and Jon have a connection Martin will never be able to bridge.

But that's okay.

Martin likes making the tea, and Tim is always nice about it. Sasha, too. They're both very attractive people and Martin finds himself a perpetual blush. They're nice about that as well.

Jon doesn't seem to notice Martin. In his defense, he doesn't seem to notice anybody. He lets Tim throw a companionable arm about his shoulders, then turns away in the middle of a conversation. Sasha leans on his desk to talk to him, and he just swipes paper out of the way so she can't sit on it. He accepts tea when Martin brings it, but often leaves it to go cold. He also lets the tea get cold when he makes it for himself, so Martin doesn't take offense.

It occurs to Martin, once, that he spends a great deal of time watching Jonathan Sims, but he quickly sets aside the thought. He just wants to know what he can do to help.

Since Martin is the one who usually makes the tea, he tends to take responsibility for cleaning the little staff kitchen as well, even though it's just the four of them plus Elias using it. The shape of the Magnus Institute means they don't share it with any others.

So when Martin addresses the other three, politely asking that they stop leaving an inch of tea in the mugs overnight because it gets sludgy, he knows he's asking the right people. (Also, it's Sasha. She always leaves the last little bit of tea in the mug next to the sink and since she tends to leave after Martin, it's always disgusting come morning.)

He is surprised to meet Jon in the kitchen that evening, dumping his mug of unconsumed tea and washing it out.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," he protests, but Jon says something dismissive about being enough of an adult to wash his own dirty dishes. Then he leaves.

Something about the interaction makes Martin feel warm inside.

When Martin has to move into the archives because he is being stalked by a woman consumed by living worms, Jon doesn't seem to notice that, either. Oh, he certainly suggested it, which Martin will be forever grateful for. But he hardly takes note of the fact that Martin is around later and earlier unless he is startled by Martin's presence when he doesn't expect it. He bitterly complains when he is startled.

Martin knows he should be more upset, but he can see the toll digitizing the archive is taking on Jon, especially since he's running into more and more statements that must be recorded with a tape player, rather than the laptop he prefers. He gets into the habit of letting Jon know when the others are gone and he is still there. He gets into the habit of leaving clear indicators of his presence where Jon will see them before he sees Martin. It's just polite.

One day Sasha sympathetically asks Martin how he's doing and he puts her off with a mild complaint that the archive is very quiet at night. He's used to his flat and the bustle of the city around it. The archives are soundless voids compared to all of that.

He doesn't think about the fact that Jon's office door is open and Jon can hear him until a "Sounds of the city" CD appears on his desk. Sasha and Tim both deny providing it, which leaves Jon and Elias. And the thought of Elias giving him a gift like that is too weird. It helps, a little.

After Prentiss attacks, Sasha stops leaving tea in her mug, which is a nice change of pace. Tim gets tight and tense and angry, Jon gets paranoid, and Martin makes the tea. If he cries at night when he goes home because all the stress weighs him down so much, that's his own business.

He finds Gertrude's body, which is another trauma, and Sasha turns out to be...not Sasha. It's very frightening. Tim gets worse. So does Jon. Martin makes the tea. Sometimes he cries in the bathroom or a closet.

Things rapidly go from bad to worse, and before Martin knows what's happening, he is planning to get his boss thrown in jail, wary of every recording device he sees. He is so ready for everything to stop being awful.

There is something satisfying about setting files on fire, about yelling at Elias, even something about having all his worst and most distressing fears about his mother spilled out into his head. It's bad. It makes him cry.

He doesn't stop, because Jon still washes his mug out every night. Tim sometimes gives Martin a smile offering things he knows Martin will not accept. Melanie has never tried to attack Martin, even though it visibly takes all of her effort not to. Basira is a steady, stabilizing presence. Daisy's not around much, but even she matters to Martin. It feels like everyone and everything Martin cares about depends on his ability to keep setting files on fire.

Elias goes to jail. Jon nearly dies. He doesn't die, but it's a close thing. Daisy does die. So does Tim. Melanie and Basira become the archives' protectors. Peter Lukas. Well, he's an awful man, in different ways than Elias is awful, but he offers a solution. Martin doesn't trust it, but he doesn't exactly have any other plans. He can just hope that Jon will come back soon.

Martin will make the tea.


End file.
